Section 3: Religious Minorities

Religious minorities in Yemen have had their rights restricted and been subjected to social pressure, particularly with the rising power of fundamentalist Islamist movements with extremist rhetoric opposed to diversity, difference, and coexistence. Authorities have also imposed discriminatory restrictions and demands on minorities.

The oppression of religious minorities in Yemen began before this war started, with members of the Jewish^[1] and Bahá’í communities^[2] subjected to numerous abuses affecting their basic rights and freedoms. With the war and the associated collapse of state institutions, the problems facing these two minority groups only increased.

Mwatana documented two arbitrary detentions carried out by the armed group Ansar Allah (Houthis) in 2018, apparently related to the individuals’ religious beliefs: the detention of Abdullah Al Olofi, a member of the Bahá’í community, and the detention of Yusuf Saeed Al Na’idhi, a Yemeni Jewish man.

In a dangerous development, the specialized criminal court in the capital, Sana’a, sentenced Hamid Kamal Haidarah to death on baseless charges after an unfair trial. Four other Bahá’í individuals remain arbitrarily detained in a prison overseen by the National Security Bureau, and another has been forcibly disappeared since April 2017.

On 15 September 2018, the specialized criminal court held the first court session in the trial against 23 defendants from the Bahá’í community, including a child and eight women. These court sessions were held in secret, and the lawyers and families of the defendants were not informed of they were being held. Some of the defendants were also not informed the sessions were being conducted. The group was charged with the same charges as Hamid Haidarah, in addition to the charge of apostasy for the Yemenis amongst them.

Legal Framework

Non-state actors, including armed groups, that exercise government like functions and control a territory, as Ansar Allah does in parts of Yemen, are obliged to respect human rights norms when their conduct affects the human rights of the individuals under their control.^[3] International human rights law protects the freedom of religion. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, for example, explicitly includes the freedom “to manifest one’s religion or beliefs.” ^[4] While the Covenant allows some restrictions on certain rights during conflict or during an officially proclaimed public emergency, any restrictions must be exceptional, temporary in nature and limited “to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation.” Certain fundamental rights, including the rights to life, to a fair trial and to be free from torture, mistreatment and arbitrary deprivation of liberty, must be respected at all times, including during conflict. Mwatana opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and at all times.

Case Studies

●        In the morning of Tuesday, 2 January 2018, the specialized criminal court sentenced Hamid Kamil Haidarah (53 years old) to death, and ordered the confiscation of his monetary assets and property and the closing of any remaining Bahá’í forums in Yemen.

Officers from the National Security Bureau arrested Hamid Kamil Haidarah while he was working in Belhaf in Shabwah governorate in southern Yemen on 3 December 2013. He was taken to a detention center in Sana’a, where he remained disappeared for nine months.

Hamid Haidarah was physically and psychologically tortured during interrogations in the first nine months of his detention with the National Security Bureau, he told his family. Interrogators insulted the Bahá’í faith, electrocuted him, beat him with metal pipes, hitting his fingers and reproductive organs, and hung him from the ceiling for long periods. According to public prosecutor records, Haidarah informed officials during a meeting on November 23, 2014 that he had been severely beaten and threatened while detained at the National Security Bureau, in order to compel him to confess and sign blank statements and other documents. The investigator showed Haidarah his “confessions,” that he allegedly wrote on 20 January 2014, and asked him if those were his statements and thumbprint. Haidarah sid “I did not know”.

Before his trial began, on 3 October 2014, Haidarah was transferred to the Central Prison in Sana’a, where he was kept in a cell with prisoners already sentenced to death. On 8 January 2015, the specialized criminal court prosecutor charged Haidarah with working with a foreign government to spread the Bahá’í faith in Yemen, inciting people to convert to this religion, and encouraging Yemenis to leave Islam for the purpose of harming Yemen’s independence and its territorial integrity. He was also accused of forging documents, including a passport and a personal ID, for himself and his family, as well as other charges.[5]

In January 2018, the specialized criminal court sentenced Haidarah to death. Haidarah appealed. On 1 January 2019, Haidarah attended the first sessions of the appeal. The date of the next session was set for 20 January 2019.

●        On Wednesday, 16 May 2018, Ansar Allah (Houthis) arrested Rabbi Yusuf Saeed Saeed Al Na’idhi (30 years old), a Jewish man.

Rabbi Yusuf Saeed Saeed Al Na’idhi  Who works as a Hebrew teacher in the tourist city in the capital Sana’a , where the remaining members of the Jewish community had settled. While in a vehicle near Tourism City, two vehicles (Toyota Hilux pickup trucks) carrying around 10 armed men in civilian clothes blocked his way. The men forced him to get out of his vehicle and go with them. After his family contacted prominent tribal figures, they learned Rabbi Yusuf was detained in a Political Security Organization prison. His family was able to visit him on Saturday, 27 May 2018. Rabbi Yusuf Al Na’idhi remains detained in the Political Security Organization prison.

●        On Thursday 11 October 2018, Ansar Allah (Houthis) arrested Abdullah Al Olofi (43 years old), a member of the Bahá’í community while with a friend on Airport Road in the capital, Sana’a.

Two vehicles (Toyota pickup trucks) with armed men blocked Abdullah Al Olofi from moving forward and forced him to get on one of the vehicles. The men took him to the Political Security Organization, where he was interrogated for being Bahá’í and having contact with the American Embassy. He was released three days later, on 14 October 2018.